Collapsible lamp shade



y 1964 YUKlO OKAMOTO COLLAPSIBLE LAMP SHADE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 25, 1961 INVENTOR. Yuma OKAMOTO A7 TORNEYS ly 8, 1964 YUKlO OKAMOTO COLLAPSIBLE LAMP SHADE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 25, 1961 FIG. 5

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INVENTOR. Yuk/o Ommoro ,AT TORNEYS United States Patent 3,142,446 C(PLLAPSIBLE LAMP SHADE Yukio Okamoto, 330 Oak Grove, Apt. 117, Minneapolis 3, Minn.

Filed July 25, 1961, Ser. No. 126,571 1 Claim. (Cl. 240-108) My invention relates to lamp shades and more particularly to lamp shades of the so-called hard type. Hard lamp shades of the type which include concentric upper and lower rings and a generally cylindrical body formed from hard or self-sustaining material such as parchment, as distinguished from soft material such as collapsible fabric, are generally not nestable because of their shape. Furthermore, their diameters are normally so much greater than that of their supporting bases, that shipment of the two in a common carton is either impossible or impractical from a cost point of view.

The primary object of my invention is the provision of a hard lamp shade which includes a relatively rigid, self-sustaining tubular body and flexible resilient reinforcing rings secured to the upper and lower edge portions of said body, wherein said rings and body are split in a direction axially of the body, said rings being under tension to assume a position other than their normal true round position and biasing said body toward said other position, and in which cooperating connector elements are provided on opposite ends of said rings, which retain said rings and body in true round condition when in their cooperative connecting relationship.

More specifically, the object of my invention is the provision of a lamp shade of the type above described wherein said rings are under tension to cause overlapping relationship of the normally opposed edges of said body, whereby to define a spiral having a substantially smaller maximum diameter than that of said body when said edges are in abutting relationship, whereby said lamp shade in its disconnected spiral position may be placed concentrically around the upstanding stem portion of a given lamp base and shipped with said lamp base in a common carton and at little or no additional packing or shipping cost.

A still further object of my invention is the provision of a device of the class above described wherein said connector elements are of the male and female type, the male element projecting axially beyond the adjacent edge of said body and the female element terminating in line with the adjacent edge of said body, whereby each such element is entirely concealed when in cooperative relationship.

A further object of my invention is the provision of novel means for sealing together the opposed abutting edges of the tubular body, preferably through the medium of pressure sensitive adhesive secured along the inner surface of said body.

A further object of my invention is the provision of a device of the class above described which may be produced at a minimum of cost, and which may be readily assembled and disassembled by any one with a minimum of instruction.

A further object of my invention is the provision of a novel collapsible supporting spider for use with my novel collapsible shade above described.

A further object of my invention is the provision of a device of the class immediately above described which is not damaged by collapsing same for shipment and storage and which is equal in appearance to a non-collapsible shade of the same type when in a non-collapsed condition.

The above and still further objects of my invention will become apparent from the following detailed specification, appended claim and attached drawings.

Referring to the drawings wherein like characters indicate like parts throughout the several views.

FIG. 1 is a view in perspective of a conventional table lamp showing my novel shade in a collapsed position placed about the base for shipment within a container, said container being illustrated by broken lines;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view in perspective showing my novel shade in assembled position, some parts being broken away and some parts shown in section;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary exploded view of the supporting spider of my invention;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view taken on the line 44 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary view in section as seen substantially from the line 5-5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary view in section as seen from the line 6-6 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary view in perspective, some parts being broken away.

Referring with greater particularity to the drawings, the numeral 1 indicates the generally cylindrical body of my novel shade, same being formed from parchment or other self-sustaining sheet material. At its upper and lower ends respectively, body 1 is reinforced by flexible resilient rings 2, 3 preferably formed from spring steel or the like. As shown particularly in FIGS. 1 and 4, the body 1 and rings 2, 3 are split in a direction axially to the body 1, said rings 2, 3 each having male connector elements 4 projecting circumferentially beyond the adjacent axially extended edge 5 of the body 1, and female connector elements 6 which terminate substantially at the adjacent axially extended edge 7 of said body 1. In this manner the connector elements 4 and 6 are completely concealed when in their cooperative relationship.

As shown particularly in FIG. 1, the rings 2, 3 are under tension to assume positions other than true round and to bias the body 1 toward said other than true round position. More specifically, the resilient rings 2, 3 are under tension to cause overlapping relationship of the normally opposed axially extended edges 5, 7 of the body 1, whereby to define a spiral 8 having a substantially smaller maximum diameter than that of the body 1 when the edges 5, 7 are in abutting relationship of FIG. 2, wherein the shade is shown in its assembled condition.

The cooperative relationship of the male and female connector elements 4, 6 of the resilient rings 2, 3 is such that when said elements are in their cooperative connector-forming position they form a substantially true circle and retain the body 1 in said condition with the opposing edges 5, 7 in abutting relationship. For the purpose of maintaining the edges 5, 7 in abutting relationship, a strip 9 of pressure sensitive adhesive is caused to overlie said edges in engagement with the inner surface 19 of said body 1.

As shown particularly in FIGS. 2, 5 and 6, the upper and lower resilient rings 2, 3 are maintained in cooperative relationship with the upper and lower edges of the body 1 by means of strips of adhesive tape 11, 12 respectively, which are folded over the rings 2, 3 and over the upper and lower edges of said body 1 so as to engage both the inner surface 10 of said body 1 and also the outer surface 13.

In FIG. 1 a conventional table lamp is identified in its entirety by the letter A, said lamp including a supporting base B, a pedestal C, and a loop-forming supporting bracket or harp D which is provided at its lower end with a ring 14 which encompasses the reduced neck 15 thereof. At its upper end the bracket D is formed to define an upstanding nut-equipped stud 16 for the reception of the bearing sleeve 17 associated with the supporting spider 18 of my invention.

Preferably, and as shown, the supporting spider 18 comprises a pair of spring steel arms 19, the axial dimensions of which correspond approximately to the diameter of the body adjacent upper ring 2 when the connector elements 4, 6 are in the cooperative relationship of FIG. 4. At their central portions the arms 19 are formed to provide substantially closed loops 29 the diameters of which correspond approximately to the reduced intermediate portion 21 of the bearing sleeve 17 over which they are adapted to be rotatively received in immediately overlying relationship for angular movements with respect to each other. The enlarged head on the upper end of the sleeve 17 is identified by the numeral 22, whereas the similarly enlarged nut on the lower end thereof is identified by 23. At their outer ends the arms 19 are formed to define preferably flattened upstanding fingers 24 which, as shown particularly in FIG. 6, are adapted to engage the inner surface 10 of the body 1 intermediate the upper edge thereof and the binding tape 11.

In FIG. 1 I have shown my novel shade in a disassembled position within a shipping container X. As there shown, the resilient rings 2, 3 have been permitted to assume their normal position wherein they have contracted the body 1 to a diameter considerably less than that shown in FIG. 2. In this contracted condition the body 1 has been placed concentrically around the pedestal C and the base B. Also the supporting spider 18 has been collapsed to a position wherein the arms 19 are in substantially parallel relationship, as distinguished from the supporting position of FIG. 2, wherein they are substantially at right angles to each other. In such collapsed position the supporting spider 18 may be placed within the shipping container X as there indicated.

the scope and spirit of the appended claim.

What I claim is:

A collapsible lamp shade comprising a cylindrical body portion formed from relatively rigid self-sustaining sheet material, a flexible resilient reenforcing ring secured to each of the upper and lower marginal edge portions of said body, said rings and body being split and in abutting relationship in a direction axially of said body, means connecting the split ends of the rings to retain the body portion in cylindrical form, said rings being under collapsing tension to tend to cause overlapping of the opposed edges of said body into a spiral or scroll like form, when the ends of the rings are separated from the connecting means, and having a substantially smaller maximum diameter than that of said body when said edges are in abutting relationship, a pair of intersecting arms normal to each other secured to the upper edge of the body portion and formed with registering bent loop portions positioned one above the other for mounting on a lamp base.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS I e-4 w 

